


Tewkesbury, May 4th 1471

by wefewwehappyfew



Category: 15th Century CE RPF
Genre: Gen, Lancastrian appreciation, This probably did not happen but I like to hypothesise, also a bit of appreciation towards Richard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-12 22:32:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16880466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wefewwehappyfew/pseuds/wefewwehappyfew
Summary: The last moments of the Prince of Wales.





	Tewkesbury, May 4th 1471

He cannot help a chuckle once he sees who is to guard him until the Usurper decides to see him.

For much he might have say about him, Edward of York is no idiot. Or at least, not as much as he imagined, for Richard is the one that stays true to his brother. And in Edward’s opinion, he is the most capable out of the three York brothers.

Edward might be good in battle, but once peace comes, he’ll throw himself into excesses, and that will be his downfall. He is not the type of men to enjoy calmness.

George is too ambitious, and too stupid. He wants power, and yet he doesn’t understand what comes with it.

But Richard is the only worthy adversary. And probably the most worthy out of the three for the throne of England. He has what it truly takes, to get to power and to reign effectively.

After all, if Edward is right, he’ll not come out of this meeting alive. And England should be in the hands of a capable king.

He looks up to find that Gloucester is looking at him with a mixture of anger and worry.

_He is thinking of Anne._

“What is so funny?” he finally asks.

“That your brother would send you to be my guard.” he takes a deep breath, trying to calm down. “But then, I guess that putting George as my guard would be a downright terrible idea.”

“His Majesty simply wants you to stay were you are.“

“The Earl of March can stay assured that I am not moving.” Edward replies “And you can stay assured that my mother and my wife are safe. After all, if your men have respected the laws of God, they are still in the Abbey.”

“They have nothing to fear from the armies of the King.” Richard states, even though he does not seem as sure of his own words as he wanted to be.

“Please, Gloucester,  _Roma traditoribus non praemiat_.” he quotes “Not even when they are of royal stock. But the men respect you, I can see that much, so maybe if things get difficult, they will listen to you.“

There is no reply from Richard, but Edward can see, from the way he looks at him, that he has his interest and his attention.

Maybe, maybe he could put this to good use, and maybe his defeat would not be complete.

“When that time comes, I want you to protect her.”

“Your mother will receive the best treatment possible, considering her crimes and that she will be a prisoner of His Majesty.”

“My mother will continue fighting for as long as she lives, no matter the blows you give her. And with enough time I see her perfectly capable of defeating you all by the mere will of survival. And let me doubt on the best treatment possible, Gloucester.” he explains, most amused, though his tone and expression turns serious after that. It was true, his mother would keep on fighting, and in the worst scenario, she still had her cousin the King of France,  _l'universelle aragne_ , to pay a ransom for her. “Anne, on the other hand, will have no one after this. And if the reaction you are having to my words is telling of anything, is that she matters to you as much as she matters to me.”

“What do you know of that?” Richard asks, as if the idea of Edward caring for Anne or her revealing him her secrets seemed something impossible.

After all, he was the monster. And monsters were not allowed feelings of any kind. They were only allowed to harm and destroy.

“Well, as much as your father was intent on declaring me the Antichrist in the flesh, I’d daresay that he was exaggerating, to say the least.” he sighs. “Anne might have seemed to many a traitor, but I have never been one to judge the children for the faults of their parents. In fact, I was rather hopeful for this marriage when I was told of it.”

“How so?”

“Because for once I would have a friend that was more or less my age.”

The answer seems to shock Richard. But again, it’s the truth. Surrounded as he was of his mother, and his advisors, most of them seasoned warriors, Edward had forgone completely the idea of having friends his age.

To Richard’s defense, Edward has to admit that Anne had been as shocked by his baheaviour, too nice, too different from what she had been told, as young Gloucester is being now by these revelations.

Edward can see that he wants to ask a question regarding Anne, but he is afraid to do so. He ponders on what it might be while Richard paces from one side of the small tent to the other.

“Did you…” It is even amusing to see how he treads to avoid the use of certain words. “Did you treat her honourably?”

“Of course.” Edward looks at Richard directly in the eye. “I love her, and  one should never harm those he loves.”

“But you could not have loved her from the very beginning.” He does not continue but Edward can see his thoughts on the matter. 

_He thinks I raped her. Of course he does. Granted, our first night together was terribly awkward, but the only ones who got harmed were me and my honour as I fell backside first to the floor_. _I had to wait until she was comfortable with me to ever propose the idea of becoming husband and wife in every sense of the word._

“Even monsters are capable of love.”

Richard winces at the way he uses  _monster,_ and Edward knows it is not because he sees him as any more human than before, but for other reasons. Well,  _tant pire_   _pour lui_ , not like Edward himself cares, after all. Friends, family, everything, he’ll leave it all behind in Lord knows how long.

( _Surely the Earl of March wants him to break down before he brings him to his presence_ )

“Will you marry her?” He breaks the silence again. “When I am gone, I mean.”

“If the King gives his approval…”

“To Hell with his approval, Gloucester!”he exclaims.”While I will be forever grateful that his marriage to Lady Grey brought Warwick to our side, he did what he wanted. He married the woman he loved without the approval of the nobles. He has allowed Clarence back to his side after his treason. If he pardons the traitorous brother, I am quite sure he’ll pardon the loyal one for a small transgression such as marriage without his approval.”

There is again silence as Richard ponders. Edward knows he is no idiot, and he’ll do the right thing. 

“But he is my brother…” Richard starts. “I could not… I should not undermine his authority, not in the way George has tried to.”

“Not even if the future of England depended on that?”

“Depend on me betraying my brother, the King?” he asks, incredulous. “The whole idea is ridiculous! There will be peace after this, and the succession is guaranteed. My brother has a son who will follow him after his death, and the Queen is young enough to have more children.”

“A son who is barely a year old. Your brother does not lack of health.” he says. “But for how long? Warriors grow idle with peace.”

He does not continue. There is no need for it, as much as Gloucester may deny it.

“I’ll do my part.”

“Even when what you believe is good for England clashes with what you think is correct?”

Silence.

A sigh. He tried, he doesn’t even know why, but he tried.

“But I will marry Anne.” Richard finally says “I will not condemn her to whatever life they choose for her.”

Another sigh, this time of relief, follows. At least Anne will be safe. Now it’s the time for him to ask one last thing. He is going to die, but he is going to die in his own terms.

“Whatever happens there.” He continues “You can trust me to treat her honourably.”

“And me?” Edward asks. “Would you allow me one last honour?”

Again, Richard looked at him, not understanding what he meant. “Why should I?”

“Because you are a man of honour yourself, and because if you are not true to your word I will make sure my ghost haunts you until your bloody end.”

More annoyed than worried, Richard looked  at Edward. “And what would that be?”

“For you to be the one to strike first when your brother orders you to kill me.” he said. “If I have to die, let the first strike be blown by a man of honour like you.”

Silence again. Edward knew it was not like Richard cared. After all, he would be dead today, and what did it matter?

“You can count on it.” 

For once, it was Richard who surprised Edward.

_He truly has what it takes._

At last, the other guards appeared, George of Clarence with them, sneering at Edward with the superiority of one who finds himself in the winning side. Paying as less attention to him or to his surroundings as possible, Edward stood up, the chains a small hassle as he walked among the tents.

It was amusing, though, how the realisation that death was so close had brought him to a completely state of being, with more of himself away from this world with each step he took.

By the time they entered the room, he barely noticed anything, and yet, he knew he had to make an effort, he knew he had to stay defiant.

The words from the Usurper registered as nothing but mere noise. He speaks and speaks and there is nothing. Only sound.

Until the intonation of a question signaled that  it was the time for Edward to speak his last words.

“I came here to recover the Throne of England, which by right has always belonged to my father.”

The first stab went to his chest, not reaching his heart but quite close to it. As Edward realised, it was Gloucester.

He smiled as the blood began to reach to his mouth. Gloucester had proved himself to be a man of honour, at least with this. But it gave the dying Prince of Wales hope for the rest.

With that, he lost himself to thoughts.

Of his father, who many had thought unfit to rule. 

( _Edward disagreed, he would have been a great king in a country that did not call for bloodshed_ )

Of his mother, who many thought had brought disgrace to England

( _England had brought disgrace upon itself a long time ago, and decided to place the blame on a foreigner_   _and a woman._ )

Of Anne, who many would think a traitor and many would think a victim at his monstruous hands.

(  _When the truth was they were both pawns. His only hope was that she could break free of that after his death._ )

And after that, everything was light.

**Author's Note:**

> \- While we will never exactly know if Edward of Lancaster was murdered after the Battle of Tewkesbury or during the Battle, I chose the first option to write this scene, which is completely fictional, but I wanted to pit both Edward of Lancaster and Richard of Gloucester against each other in a scene where a point would come accross: Both of them were human beings with their good and bad things, and none of them were the monsters painted by propaganda or by modern authors (the case of Edward’s depiction in modern fiction is particularly egregious, with authors, who are generally set in cleaning Richard’s reputation from the rumours and falsehoods of Tudor propaganda, believing the same rumours and falsehoods about Edward that were created by Yorkist propaganda, and using them as fact)
> 
> \- Roma traditoribus non praemiat: Rome does not pay traitors, a quote said by the Roman Servilius Caepio to the murderers of Lusitanian chieftain Viriatus after they went for the payment that was promised for his death. They were instead executed. 
> 
> \- L’universelle aragne or The Universal Spider was one of the nicknames of Louis XI of France, due to the penchant he had (according to his enemies) for plots and conspiracies.
> 
> \- Tant pire pour lui: so much worse for him.


End file.
